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From the NPSGlobal Situation Room  Rio de Janeiro Seminar 2009
It was a great time to test the upcoming NPT challengesRight now, I could say that the goals we set when we began to think about an international "mega meeting" in Rio de Janeiro have been widely fulfilled. Since long time ago the NPSGlobal Foundation had wanted to bring the debate about Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation, and in particular, about the Future of the NPT, to a public environment in Latin American lands. And we did it!
We always considered such debate as essential because we have been working for a more proactive (and creative) role of Latin America in making possible a world where nuclear issues could be only connected to people's welfare (and not to sorrow or fear).
In this sense, the contribution of the region has been remarkable in the past. It is enough to recall the joint effort in the Sixties to set up the first nuclear weapons free zone in the world. But today's challenges seem to demand updated efforts (in qualilty and quantity). And we, at NPSGlobal believe that shared knowledge, debate, and cooperation are relevant on it. You can find here all about the Seminar, including audios, transcripts and translations of all speeches, and pictures. In fact, you will be able to get from this website a pool of key concepts, which could be very useful for further elaborations regarding the 2010 RevCon. We hope all of this serve as food for thought concerning the upcoming NPT challenges. I wish you to enjoy all the information as I did!
There been many debates around the world about the Crisis of the Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation Regime, and the Future of the NPT, but several reasons make, in my view, this International Seminar so special. It has been opportune, just seven months before the 2010 NPT Review Conference where advances to reinvigorate the NPT, after the former RevCon failure, appear to be absolutely necessary.
It has been plural, by gathering together a diversity of expert voices all over the world, sometimes with strong opposing views (32 speakers from 18 countries represented the whole arc of NWS, NNWS, and NPT non signatories). It has been a kind of sandbox of what could happen in May 2010, and beyond.
It has been public and free and, by the way, there has been a strong, passionate, and useful interaction among speakers and the audience.
It has shown the image of a Latin America alive, interested, and willing to integrate itself to one of the world's top priorities as well as wanting to play an active role in finding solutions to current key disarmament and nonproliferation dilemmas.
Working on making the Rio International Seminar possible has been for the NPSGlobal team a very rewarding experience. We are committed to repeat this experience, by opening new spaces global debate, which could help advance toward the ultimate goal of the total nuclear disarmament. Irma Arguello |
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